Discovery Bay International School
Discovery Bay, Lantau Island, Hong Kong
Tel: (852) 2987-7731
Fax: (852) 2987-7076
27 May, 1998
Dear Friends,
D.B.I.S. celebrated its 15th anniversary this year so I was determined to make contact
with you again. Writing letters is not one of my favourite occupations so I apologise to all of
you to whom I haven’t written at all and to those to whom I haven’t written for five years. If
you remember, I wrote to our early families for our 10th anniversary.
I realise that I am writing to some families who have only recently left and whose
memories of D.B.I.S. are current, but for some of you, D.B.I.S. would be almost
unrecognizable both in its size and its environment.
The first things that would strike most of you would be the S.A.R. flag flying from
the flagpole. The Hong Kong Colonial Flag was lowered on the last day of term 1997 by
Joanna Spearing. We knew many of you were thinking of us at the Handover and, indeed, we
were very pleased to welcome back many former students who had returned from Canada,
U.S.A. and U.K. to be here to witness this historic event.
The second thing that many of you would notice would be the playground. All the
green trees and shrubs have made an enormous difference as have the pergolas and the
increased shaded areas. Our third large piece of climbing apparatus from Australia will be
installed this Summer. The artificial surface installed on the netball court, P5 and P5 play
area, and of course, the community sports pitch have certainly improved our facilities. We
are very fortunate to have this space.
Perhaps you were involved in the raising of debentures in 1991 to fund the D.B.I.S.
Hall which was completed in time for our 10th anniversary. You will be pleased to know that
it is used almost constantly and there have been some many memorable evenings held there,
not only D.B.I.S. children but hugely successful Charity Balls which have been greatly
enjoyed by the DB community.
For those of you who were here many years ago, you will be delighted to know that
the school is fully air-conditioned. I also have a very nice office – welcoming, nice, carpets,
sofas, books and toys for children, children’s art on display and plants. I love the material on
the sofas so much I would like the same again when it is renewed. The Library is still
wonderful and very special. It is to be upgraded this Summer – new shelves, counters, IT
centre etc. but its inviting, welcoming atmosphere will be kept without a doubt.
D.B.I.S. enrollment continues to hover around 600 with enormous waiting lists for
Kindergarten, Primary 1 and 2s. This year we have 37 nationalities at the School and the
children are still as nice as ever. We have also been very pleased to welcome back some
returning families over the years – the Jemisons, for example who are now leaving us for the
second time.
If you returned to D.B.I.S. you would still find some familiar faces. In the office,
you would be greeted by Connie, Angel, Kammi and now Queenie. Mr. Freddy Wong has
left us but all the amahs, including Connie’s mum, are still with us. Long timers who would
greet you with a smile are Jo Roger, Ketu Patel, Kate Young, Michelle Murison, Tess Dolk,
Jenny Taylor, Caroline Barnett, Christian McCulloch, Janine Gillion, Lee Eltringham, Linda
Pryce, Isabel Winter, Susan Huxtable (Mounsey), Carol Spackman, Mary Keenan and Cathie
Meharg. Working as hard as ever are Toni McNickle, Anne Cope, Judy Hibberd, Miriam
Clark, John Handscombe, Marie Marchand and the others are newcomers by comparison but
a super group. There has been a turnover in the Library in the past two years or so but a
familiar face might be Isobel Gallacher who has become an official Library assistant after
many years of volunteering.
On Saturday, we held our Food Fair. Someone asked how it all started and, of
course, I could tell them it started with a Summer Sausage Sizzle!! Do you remember that? I
remember having to bring my own meat and I can remember Irene Lam cooking hundreds of
delicious chicken wings!! We had super weather and a great atmosphere. The next day,
Election Day, it bucketed rain. Weren’t we lucky? It reminded us “oldies” of the Fair when
it rained very heavily just as we started the day.
D.B.I.S. children are all over the world from Paraguay to Scandinavia. Some, now
are well into their University careers. I know we have students at Chicago, Durham, Simon
Fraser, Princeton, Royal College of Surgeons and McGill Universities. An old scholar Marc
Remedios is a Cathay Pacific flight attendant and Kris Marin is a pilot. As far as I know, a
former D.B.I.S. student has not started a family but it won’t be long if, indeed, it hasn’t
happened already.
The turmoil in Indonesia has made us think of former D.B.I.S. families, hoping they
are safe. We were anxious for news of thoe Cox, Wonders, Goessing families and Kim
Dray’s family and hoped all was well with the Peter Barnett family in Bali. We were then
delighted to welcome Sam and Jacob Cox and Max and Christoph Goessing as “refugee”
students for a weeks.
Jeremy Marriott left HKR a few months ago. If you remember he was the HKR
Executive Director who gave the School much-needed support in our growing stages. I shall
miss his sound advice and willingness to give time to listen.
The end of this School Year will close two eras. Terence Wayburne will move onto
Secondary School ending a connection that began when older brother Jon joined the D.B.I.S.
Kindergarten in March in the Residents Club. Yes, the DMR School of Ballet continues to
thrive bringing out the wonderful dance talents of so many of our children.
Jo Roger, our Vice Principal for 9 years, will be leaving D.B.I.S. in June. She has
worked tremendously hard for the school and she will be greatly missed.
Would you like to send Ms. Roger a “Good-bye and Good Luck” card or letter? If
you were here at D.B.I.S. during her time with us (the last 11 years), I know she would be
thrilled to hear from you. However, we would like it to be a surprise , so please address the
envelope to me and we plan to hand the cards on Christmas or “Farewell” trees in the
Covered Area.
Of course, we shall tie the cards on with tartan ribbon!! You may recall that Jo
Roger organised some super Ceilidhs for D.B.I.S. Remember how much fun they were and
the police always came because the neighbours had complained about the noise. Great
excitement! Why not send the card (and perhaps a photo) to Jo Roger right now in time?
Don’t forget to address it to me so that it will be a surprise.
Sadly, some of our addresses will be out-of-date now. D.B.I.S. people, please ask
your connections if they have received this letter and, if not, ask them to get in touch.
D.B.I.S. continues to be a busy, thriving, happy school. Part of you is in our school
and I shall never forgot the contribution and support you gave. Whether what you did was
large or small, whether your time at D.B.I.S. was long and short, you are not forgotten.
We need to form a D.B.I.S. “Old Scholars” Homepage. Edmond Wu in Canada has
started one but – perhaps we should take it further. A new goal? We’ll see.
With every good with to all of you. (Yes, I’m still here so you always know one
person at D.B.I.S. at least!) I do hope all goes well for you. Please keep in touch.
Anne-Marie Naughton (Miss)
Principal
(
geocities.com/tokyo)